Why Executives Are Unaware of DaaS and How to Remedy It

A recent Evolve IP survey found that executives are remarkably unaware of newer desktop technologies in comparison to their IT colleagues. Specifically, nearly 40 percent of executives are not aware of Desktop as a Service (DaaS), while just 12 percent of IT professionals don’t know about DaaS. The question is why aren’t executives aware of this technology?

One of the reasons that a leader or decision maker isn’t going to be familiar with this technology is because it’s had somewhat of a rough early life cycle. If you’re familiar with the Gartner Technology Hype Cycle, DaaS followed the usual path. At first it was hot – everyone was talking about desktop, and cloud-based virtualization for desktops. It shot up to the peak of the Gartner Hype Cycle, and then proceeded to slide down to the “Trough of Disillusionment”. This technology curve shows that this is a normal thing, and it doesn’t vary by product. It seems that because of its current position on this hype cycle, DaaS has not been prioritized. But, the really interesting point, is looking at where the next step in the hype cycle is for DaaS; after a tech product hits that “Trough of Disillusionment”, the next step is that it starts slowly, gradually building more solid credibility as it climbs up the “Slope of Enlightenment”. This is the period in the cycle when folks start to become more educated and aware about the technology. DaaS is now poised to enter that step of the cycle.

VMware DaaS For Dummies Guide

Physical desktop computers with locally installed operating systems and applications no longer make sense for the modern business world.

As mentioned above, we are already seeing IT professionals becoming educated about DaaS, but why are the majority of executives still looking at this topic like it is something with three heads and not something that could benefit their businesses in multiple ways?

One reason I suspect is that IT managers and directors that are below the C-level team are afraid of losing control. They incorrectly assume that if they were to move to DaaS technology they are going to immediately lose control of the organization’s desktop environment. The reality is that they’re just uneducated on how the technology works and in fact, they are actually going to gain more control. Here’s why:

They’re going to get a dedicated DaaS administrator portal dedicated to their IT organization.

IT can control access to their portal with their own Active Directory (AD) policy.

IT can modify their gold pattern simply by powering up and connecting via RDP.

There is no longer a need to manage complicated VPN’s and remote access gateways.

The entire organization receives an end user portal to provide their associates with basic functions.

Once the OS is deployed and on the network, IT can control it just like any other endpoint. Additionally, with the adoption of Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM), IT can establish greater control over their endpoints. In some cases, more than they ever had before. RMM provides IT departments with the ability to:

Remote control into any windows desktop (or server) in the organization.

Deploy windows patches in a more controlled fashion using a central pane of glass.

See exactly when hardware is coming up for warranty expiration.

The other main reason that executives are not looking at DaaS is that many people – both IT and executives – believe that DaaS is cost prohibitive. This is true in a dedicated deployment, but not accurate in a cloud model. To build it in-house you’ll need to purchase the necessary hardware along with the right infrastructure, costs that can easily run to six figures. Additionally, there are costs for the data center, cooling, and power, not to mention the opportunity cost for the IT team.

The beauty of DaaS is that you don’t have to deploy an entire desktop infrastructure in-house. With the cloud model, organizations can easily contract with a cloud service provider and only pay a monthly fee per desktop, managing everything 100% from a web-based console. Furthermore, there is a secondary cost savings for DaaS deployments as companies no longer need to spend thousands of dollars per user for dedicated PC hardware. Thin clients are $300, Chromebooks are $200 and most associates already own their own tablet or smart phone which can also be used as a desktop client. This is why many companies using DaaS offer a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) program.

For more information on the benefits of DaaS, click here to download the Top 5 Reasons to Deploy DaaS.

About Neill Reidy

Neill Reidy brings over 16 years of experience to Evolve IP, with an extensive background in managed hosting, systems architecture, network engineering and of course all things “Cloud”. Neill is primarily responsible for supporting growth and go-to market strategy on all cloud computing products.

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Evolve IP’s business collaboration tools and IP phone system dramatically improve employee productivity in the office and on the road with a Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) platform that fully integrates voice, video, instant messaging & presence (IM&P), desktop sharing, audio/web conferencing and more. The company also provides a sophisticated Web-based management portal, OSSmosis®, that allows administrators to easily configure system functions and quickly modify users without the need to reach out to a third party for changes.

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